11th Year Without Dad: Why I Chose a Different Path
How Losing My Dad Made Me Rethink Time, Work, and What Really Matters
Yesterday marked 11 years since my dad passed away.
Honestly… it still hits me. Sometimes its a weird feel, like dad’s just gone for a holiday and I’ll be seeing him soon (no, I’m not suicidal ha). Some years more than others.
Today some thoughts and feels came about.
I miss him.
Not just for the big things—but for the small, quiet moments. The way he sat. The way he smiled without needing to say much. The way his presence just made things feel… safe.
It’s been over a decade now, but some part of me still wishes I could pick up the phone and ask him something. Or just sit beside him again, not even talking. Just being there together.
It’s hard when I cant even find his texts or number in my phone. He passed away just as WhatsApp was coming up and adopted by the masses. My time with him was more in person and short calls then.
I wish I had more WhatsApp messages and memories with him.
Why I Started Building
After he passed, something in me changed.
I started thinking differently about time, work, life. I realized that if I didn’t do something different, I’d just keep running on the same hamster wheel that steals time from families, from fathers, from faith.
That wasn’t the life I signed up for.
I mean, I already started my business then (the one that was eventually acquired), just that it was in the early stages of profit…but my focus changed. I didnt care about wealth or fame for its sake - I wanted to have time.
My dad died when he was 59, the very last year he was to retire.
We had lots of chats about this, about what he’d do in his free time after retiring, if he’d open a noodles shop - he has shared before how he’d work from 5 am and finish at about 10 am.
That’s why when he died the year he was about to retire was so shocking and frustrating to me - he deferred his life all along, and then God gave him the ultimate package, to go straight to green light in heaven.
.
.
.
That…made me evaluate and confirm that I build businesses to earn more to invest more and to retire earlier. Fo:
Time with my wife.
Time with my kids.
Time to think, to breathe, to pray.
Time to actually live.
Time to spend with God in an unrushed kinda way.
I wanted to create a life where I didn’t have to choose between providing for my family and being there for them.
And I still do. That’s why I’m still building, still investing. It’s not about chasing more. It’s about making space for what matters most.
He Never Got to See This
My dad never got to see how I sold the previous practice and later, how we rebuild and grow the next level called Phoenix Rehab Physio & Hand.
He never got to meet my kids.
He never saw me grow into this version of myself.
I wish he did. But in a way… I think he knows.
And I hope he’s proud.
For Anyone Out There Wrestling With This
If you’re reading this and you’ve lost someone—
Or maybe you’re building something out of pain or love or longing—
Or maybe you’re just tired of being so busy that life is passing you by…
I get it.
Let me just say: you don’t have to stay stuck.
You can build a life that gives you time back.
Time for the people you love.
Time to heal.
Time to become who God made you to be.
I miss you, Dad Daniel Chua Oon Hian.
And if you can see me from where you are—I just want you to know:
I'm trying to be the kind of man you were.
Present. Grounded. Quietly strong.
I still remember how you lived. And I carry that with me every day.
Until we meet again.